Halister News

(Bloomberg) -- The European Union’s top financial regulators issue guidelines on preventing the abuse of funds transfers for terrorist financing and money laundering purposes.

• “Transfers of funds can be abused for terrorist financing and money laundering purposes. To prevent such abuse, payment service providers must be able to establish who sends and receives these funds. European legislation, therefore, requires that specific information on payers and payees is passed on along the payment chain, and that payment service providers have in place policies and procedures to ensure that this information is complete.”
• “There is a risk that competent authorities and payment service providers across the EU do not agree on what payment service providers should do to comply effectively with their legal obligations, which may lead to differing regulatory standards and disrupt the efficient functioning of payment systems.”
• “These guidelines are part of the ESAs’ wider work on fostering a consistent approach to anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism and promote a common understanding of payment service providers’ obligations in this area.”
• Link: http://tinyurl.com/y9tunl5q

To contact the reporter on this story: Patrick Henry in London at phenry8@bloomberg.net